Highlighting the obtuse, the slanted and sometimes just plain ignorant writings found in The Gray Lady

Month: August 2016

When Rosa Parks chose to keep her seat rather than give it up to a white man on that bus seat in 1955 there were real implications: She was abused and arrested and jailed.

Here we are in 2016 and San Francisco 49er’s quarterback Colin Kaepernick has suddenly caused a stir for refusing to stand during the playing of the US’s national anthem.

We’re not yet sure what to think about this situation.

Kaepernick – who all should be reminded signed a $116 Million(!) NFL contract just 2 years ago – isn’t exactly your average sidewalk protester waving a cardboard sign at passing cars.

But beyond his stated purpose of “starting a conversation,” what exactly does this gold-plated guy have to lose by simply sitting on his ass at the start of a cynically violent NFL game played out more and more for sponsor’s dollars than for fan’s attention?

Other NFL players have come out screaming about Kaepernick’s supposed anti-Americanism, anti-military and other anti-things that NFL players who’ve been concussed into idiocy could come up with.

(We haven’t forgotten about the scandal last year that found the US military paying the NFL $Millions for their supposedly patriotic flag unfolding charades before games – No, it wasn’t any “tribute.” It was the US Military paid advertising straight to the NFL while 1000’s of former military members – veterans – back here in the states can’t get basic health benefits at their VA centers because of under-funding.)

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Maybe Kaepernick can start sitting down for other causes, too. Like veterans.

Or former NFL players who can’t afford treatment for dementia caused from too many concussions after playing football.

Or all the abused and beaten spouses/partners of his fellow NFL players? (NY Giants Josh Brown being just the most recent beater.)

Gosh. If other NFL players began sitting for all the women beaten up by their fellow players…there wouldn’t be ANYONE standing during that national anthem.

How is it that Donald Trump has repeatedly trumpeted his great skill to pick the “best” talent, yet he can’t even choose a presidential campaign manager who doesn’t have a scandalous if not criminal background?

In a third-time’s-gotta-be-a-charm try for a campaign manager Trump and his strange inner cadre of dog whisperers picked weird conspiracy-theory propagandist Steve Bannon to head the most important job of Donald Trump’s life.

Not only was Bannon charged in LA with beating and choking his ex-wife back in 1997, but he’s been illegally registered as a voter in Florida. And this after Trump has been charging over and over that cheating in elections is rampant and a major problem in the US (no, it isn’t).

Well, The Donald must have gotten this conspiracy straight from his campaign manager’s mouth who seems to have had firsthand experience with his own cheating at the voting booth.

Bannon only recently took leave as head of whack-website Breitbart and their conspiracy theory pushing writers. Now we know where he got all his ideas: From his own personal experiences.

Especially since your football program just fired your coach, your athletic director and your university president because for YEARS the Baylor football program literally created a rape-friendly atmosphere at the fundamentalist Christian university.

Over lunch yesterday a businessman friend of mine asked “So what do you think of all this Trump stuff?”

Well, I responded:

Trump raised nearly $90 million in one month from his cadre of hard-core believers, about as much as Hillary Clinton. Yet while all polls show Trump far behind in nearly all polls his campaign spent exactly ZERO dollars on television advertising purchases compared to $48 million spent by the Clinton campaign.

That’s right. Trump isn’t spending ANY money on TV ads. No one knows what’s he’s doing with his campaign funds. That’s why the Rebublican National Committee members are seriously considering pulling out all funding from Trump. Why raise money for your candidate when he clearly just wants to sock it away to spend it on himself after he loses the election – which is entirely legal.

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Also, I added:

Trump fired his (recently hired) campaign chief Paul Manafort and replaced him with the CEO of a fringe, right-wing website that caters to scared white men with very weird conspiracy theory stories.

Oh, and why did Trump get rid of Manafort? Because Manafort failed to register as a foreign agent while working for a presidential candidate, being paid $Millions as he did for Russia’s favorite former Ukrainian strongman.

Manafort denied and denied he was paid but his Washington, DC lobbying firm is filled to its ceiling with Russian rubles. The facts are just now coming out in documents and financial filings from the Ukraine.

No wonder Donald has so many wonderful things to say about Russia’s madman Vladimir Putin while Putin’s bombers are dropping napalm on women and children in Syria while cosying up to Iran.

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As a businessman you are deemed to have the judgment to surround yourself with the Best and Brightest.

As a businessman you have a business plan. You stick to the plan. Rarely – almost NEVER – do you do a 180 degree turnaround. Especially day after day, week after week.

In this presidential campaign Trump has hired and fired too many lackluster talents with no political experience.

In this campaign Trump has fired off blasphemous, outrageous statements, only later to reverse himself, sometimes saying he was only being “sarcastic.”

Donald Trump calls himself a businessman.

If this is business, what the hell do you think he’s going to do as President of the United States of America?

And we also know they let their players routinely beat, batter and sometimes murder their partners and spouses.

Now the NFL can’t even paint their football fields correctly for their nationally broadcast season opening Hall of Fame game that was to be broadcast Sunday night on ESPN. So, because of some field paint that apparently dried as hard as cement, making the field too dangerous to risk injury for highly paid NFL talent, the game was canceled.

How rinky dink is this $13 Billion league?

ESPN had to interview someone to fill airspace for Sunday night. Oops! Who popped up but the criminally and substance-abuse challenged Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay!

Irsay, greasy, face beet-red and bobbing around on camera, rambled on and on, “representing” the NFL in all its glory.

It was just 2 years ago that Irsay was busted by Indy police driving aimlessly around in his expensive car with countless bottles of prescription drugs and – get this – a laundry bag full of $29,000 in cash. Irsay supposedly couldn’t find his own house. Later, his mistress OD’d in a house purchased with Indianapolis Colts money.

For anyone needing a vicarious trip to locations around the world the “Globe Trekker” TV series has been the reliable place to go for decades. Globe Trekker started years ago giving viewers a realistic, foot-on-the-ground experience for the youthful, backpack oriented crowd.

In recent years GT has regretfully fallen prey to its choice of inexperienced hosts who leave viewers feeling as if they’re being led on a tour by attention-deficit afflicted grade-schoolers whose comments were akin to “Wow!” or “Gosh!”

We could reference the particularly woeful host who spent an entire hour long shipboard episode rounding Cape Horn whinging and puking and complaining of having to do chores while on the small ship.

Well, thank goodness! Old GT travelhand Ian Wright is back on the road and righting the course for the venerable television series.

Not only Wright, but host Judith Jones has added a bright, intelligent flavor to GT with her episodes.

Now, if GT would only get rid of such self-serving losers as Bobby Chinn…

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PS: Globe Trekker used to be associated with Lonely Planet, probably the best travel guide company doing business around. This isn’t a promotion, it’s just a good suggestion. If you need to know about a destination, Lonely Planet is the resource you need.